ALBANY – The city announced Sept. 22 that it will ask a judge to order the removal of the cross currently located in a city park on Albany Hill. A copy of the filing could not be obtained by press time.

The announcement, made in a news release, was a response to a lawsuit filed by the Albany Lions Club on Sept. 11, claiming the city and several employees and elected officials deprived the Lions Club of its rights when they asked PG&E to cut power to the cross in 2016.

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“At this point, the City has no choice but to respond to the recent lawsuit through the judicial process,” the Albany release read. “The City remains committed to responding to the legitimate concerns expressed by community members and will seek a court order requiring removal of this religious symbol from public park land.”

One of the city’s claims is that it was not informed of an easement granted to the Lions Club to access and maintain the cross when the property was transferred to the city. The park land was part of a complicated development deal in 1973.

Bob Nichols, an attorney and member of the Albany Lions Club, said the city has had plenty of time to address that issue.

“They can go ahead and say that,” Nichols said. “Under California law, they had 10 years to clarify that. And the city did nothing.

“I don’t know why the city is making a scapegoat of the Lions Club for the city’s inaction. If the city was deceived, it should have gone back to the developer. They chose not to.”

The 20-foot cross is located in Albany Hill Park (aka Overlook Park) and is illuminated during the Christmas and Easter seasons as well as for historical dates including the anniversaries of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack on the World Trade Center.

The current cross was constructed in 1971, when the land was owned by then-City Councilman Hubert “Red” Call and his wife, Ruth. The Calls sold their land as part of the deal and Hubert Call was later found to have violated conflict of interest laws.

A state Supreme Court case (Thomson v. Call) affirmed that the Calls illegally benefited from the deal.

The land that became the city park was transferred from Call to the developer and then to the city.

An easement was filed just before the land was transferred. A footnote in the court decision states that Call testified he would only sell the property “on one condition … that the cross will remain there permanently and an easement over the property to the cross is granted.”

Later, while appealing the initial court ruling, the Calls claimed the city’s acquisition of the land was “constitutionally invalid because the land was ‘burdened’ with a cross. The appellate court ruled that the issue was worthy of consideration, but that the Calls could not escape the conflict of interest “by reasons of problems of their own making.”

Crosses have been located on Albany Hill dating at least to the 1920s and possibly as far back as the late 19th century.

There have been complaints in the past. East Bay Atheists organized several protests beginning in 2015, including speaking a multiple city council meetings.

“We thank the council for investigating and exposing the myths surrounding this cross, and for acting on their convictions,” Larry Hicok of East Bay Atheists wrote in an email about the city’s action. “We look forward to seeing city sovereignty over its park lands restored, and that reminder of Albany’s unenlightened past, the Albany Hill Cross, removed.”

The crux of the Lions Club lawsuit is that the city illegally ordered the power cut, costing the Lions Club the use of its property (the cross and use of the easement) for 108 days, hampering its right to freedom of speech and religion. The lawsuit asks for damages and legal fees and demands the city divest itself of the land where the cross is located.

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